Falling Apart
by JadeWing
Summary: (Finished) What would happen if Sakura didn't make it to the airport in time? And if Syaoran left her life for four years, only to return because the end of the world may begin in Tomoeda? Can there be the same happy ending?
1. Too Late

Falling Apart

Chapter One: Too Late

I wished I could freeze time right then, I honestly did. Of all the times I needed to sit down and think, uninterrupted, this was the most. 

But Eriol's battle had left me drained, and all I could do was work with the natural flow of time. 

My body seemed to be in auto-pilot as I let myself into the house, slipped out of my shoes, put on my slippers, and slowly made my way up the stairs. I could hear Touya and Yukito in the kitchen, but hurried past. 

The sounds of a video game faintly echoed down the hall, and I sighed, coming to the top of the stairs. Kero, for all of the help he could be, was also somewhat of a pain…but I needed him.

__

Just like I need Syaoran.

The thought made me stop dead, but it was true. I'd almost said it myself, on the bridge, talking to him. _I…need him. But what does he mean, it was nice knowing me?_

Still lost in thought, I pushed the door open and dazedly walked inside, setting my bag down gently on the ground. 

"Hi, Sakura!" Kero paused the game and grinned at me, but after a moment his big smile faded. "What's wrong? Are you sick?"

There was a dull _wumpf_ as I fell onto the bed and stared at the covers as if they would tell me the answer to all my problems if I stared long enough. "Syaoran," I said finally. "He…told me…yesterday…that he loved me. And he said after school that it was nice knowing me."

For once, Kero didn't spaz out at hearing Syaoran's name. There was a brief moment of silence, and then he asked quietly, "How do you feel about him?"

"That's just it!" I rolled over, trying not to cry. "He's—he's my friend, but…" I swallowed, blinking back tears. And then the truth came to me. "It's…different…than how I felt for Yukito," I whispered. "Like…stronger…than friends." The fabric rustled under my head as I turned it to face Kero. "Is it love?" I asked. 

A glimmer of his previous grin broke onto his face, and he floated into the air. "Gooooing to the _chapel_ and you're… _goooonnnnnaa_ get _married_ and you're—"

I laughed in spite of myself and threw a pillow at him. "I hate you, Kero."

"Of course you do," he said contentedly.

"But what should I _do?_" I wailed. 

He shrugged. "I dunno, it's not _my_ boyfriend."

"HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND!!!!!!!" Suddenly, I sat up. A horrific notion had just occurred to me, but it couldn't possibly be true…could it? "Where's the phone?" I demanded. 

"Um…here." Kero floated the phone over to me. "But why—"

"Shh!" I hit a speed-dial button and chewed on my lower lip, heart racing. _No, no, no, no, no…_

"Daidouji residence."

"Hello, may I please speak to Tomoyo?"

"I'm sorry, she's not hear. Can I take a message?"

My heart sank even further. "Yes, could you tell her that Sakura called?"

"I will. Goodbye."

"Goodbye." It took all the self control I had to keep myself from throwing the phone into the wall; yet, I knew what I was dreading had to be true. 

Syaoran was going back to Hong Kong. There was no other explanation.

For once, I knew what it felt like to lose. This had been a race against the clock, against fate, against everything controlling my life—and I'd lost. 

Defeated, I leaned back. A tiny part of my mind was insisting that maybe he wasn't leaving, maybe this was just a misunderstanding; I clung to that shred of hope even as I felt it running through my fingers like grains of sand.

I'd slept in unusually late, even for me, and as a result my alarm was the muffled roar of the vacuum cleaner. The stairs blurred in my vision as tears welled up in my eyes once more, but somehow I made it all the way down. 

Dad switched off the vacuum and smiled at me. "Good morning, Sakura."

I tried to reply, but my voice wouldn't work, and I could only stare at the ground. 

Mercifully, the phone rang in the resounding silence. I snatched it up and swallowed. "Kinomoto residence."

"Sakura?"

"Tomoyo?" I asked, bewildered. "Don't you have choir practice?"

"Never mind that." She continued hurriedly. "I heard Mr. Terada and another teacher talking, and they said Li is taking the eleven o'clock flight back to Hong Kong today!" 

Every ounce of blood slowly drained from my face, and the phone dropped. 

"Sakura? Sakura?!"

Tomoyo's voice faded; I numbly walked up the stairs, hearing my father hurriedly pick up the phone and apologize to her. The door clicked shut behind me.

I swallowed, and a single tear fell from my eyes. 

There was a flare of light, and then sheets and lines of burning white were running across the carpet, the magic bursting around me. A familiar patch of multicolored, sparkling light gathered in front of me, and I dazedly took it. 

The colors and lights all faded away, and the Card took its form. I saw a heart with wings, but no name; yet it didn't take a genius to know what the Card was for. 

It represented the one thing no one could control, that no one could contain, that no one could touch or name or even see. It was Love. 

And I'd created it. 

The haze that had been around me seemed to break away, and I whirled around to better see the clock. If the flight was at eleven, Syaoran would have to be there by ten.

9:50. 

I threw the door open with a bang and thundered down the stairs. "Where are my roller blades?" I yelled. "I need to get to the airport!"

"By the door," answered Touya. "Why do you need to go the airport?"

I sat down hurriedly and tried to jam one on. "Syaoran's leaving, and his flight is at eleven, and I've got to get there by ten!"

__

If I only had enough of my strength back to use Time, or Fly…

"You can't get there that fast on roller blades," Dad said, his voice concerned. 

There was a pause, and then Touya _humphed_ and muttered, "I'll take her."

I dashed through the airport, trying not to collide with people and failing miserably. So far, only a few people had sworn at me, which was definitely a plus. 

__

"This is the last call for Flight 602 to Hong Kong," the intercom droned. _"All passengers must be on board."_

Last call…?! 

"No! _Syaoran!"_ I ran even faster, faster than I ever had in my entire life, shoving people aside. This couldn't be happening—Tomoyo had said it was the eleven o'clock flight, hadn't she?

I tried to sense for Syaoran's aura, and only found a tiny pinprick far away. 

__

"Flight 602 to Hong Kong is now departing."

"No!" Suddenly, I'd reached the last terminal; it was practically empty but for a few passengers reading magazines and waiting for their flight. It was the only terminal where you could see the planes taking off. 

One slowly rolled down the runway; I could feel Syaoran's presence inside. 

__

"Syaoran!" I threw myself at the window. _"Syaoran!"_

The plane picked up speed, and I cursed Eriol for making me do battle and draining me so much. If I hadn't lost so much strength, I could have used the Time or the Fly, but now I was too weak. 

"Miss—please stop that, Miss—" An attendant tried to make me stop, but I ignored her.

The nose lifted, then all of the plane, and as I watched, it took Syaoran away.

"Miss, please—"

I pounded the glass frantically, yelling his name in some strange attempt at getting him to hear me. I didn't have his phone number; I didn't have his address. And the chances were that he was not coming back.

__

"Syaoran!"

"Sakura—" Touya gently pried me from the window. I kicked and thrashed, trying to get loose as he held on to me.

And the plane disappeared into the clouds.

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Ach! Sweet bijeebus, that's depressing! Well, that's chapter one of Jade's Spring Break Special! More to come, I promise…I'm just not sure what I'm going to do with it…


	2. Changing Times

Falling Apart

Chapter Two: Changing Times

**__**

Don't own this; don't own the songs by Michelle Branch (golly, I love her stuff) that I use in this story.

Oh yes, and I thought I'd better explain: this story is almost an AU; it's what happens if Sakura missed Syaoran at the Airport. And I know it sounds an awful lot like an episode, and that's because IT'S BASED ON AN EPISODE!!! ALL THAT CHANGES IS THAT SAKURA DID NOT MAKE IT TO THE AIRPORT IN TIME TO SAY GOODBYE TO SYAORAN! And this is what happens as a result thereof! Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, now let's start the show!

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__

I pounded the glass frantically, yelling his name in some strange attempt at getting him to hear me. I didn't have his phone number; I didn't have his address. And the chances were that he was not coming back.

"Syaoran!"

"Sakura—" Touya gently pried me from the window. I kicked and thrashed, trying to get loose as he held on to me.

And the plane disappeared into the clouds.

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**__**

Four Years Later

"Syaoran?"

I stared at him through the flurry of snowflakes, shaking slightly from the cold. A few had caught in his hair; his eyes were wide and surprised. He'd grown taller since I'd last seen him. 

"Sakura?" he asked at the same time. We both laughed nervously.

"I…I never got to tell you…" I began unsteadily, suddenly fascinated by the ground. 

"You don't have to." 

I glanced up, blinking when a snowflake snagged on my eyelashes. "What?"

"I know," he said lowly. "I wanted to come back sooner, but the clan wouldn't let me. Sakura, I know how you feel…about me. We can be friends. I don't mind or anything."

I took a deep, ragged breath and expelled it, watching the steam dissipate. "That's…not what I wanted to tell you," I managed to get out. "I wanted to tell you that breakfast is ready and you've got twenty minutes to get to class, so get your ass in gear."

I sighed, sitting up. 

"Do you hear me?" Touya yelled. "Twenty minutes, Kaijou!" 

This was one of those times I really missed Dad. 

__

Damn promotion, I thought bitterly. _Why couldn't Touya just stay in college for Spring Break and get some work done?_

"It's Spring Break, Touya," I yelled. "Let me sleep!"

"Correction: it's _my_ Spring Break," he shot back. "Last time I checked, yours is next week."

"I hate you, Touya."

"I know. Now get moving." There was a pause. "If you hurry, I'll give you a ride."

"Really?" 

I caught a grumble, and then he said, "Yes."

"Alright!" 

Normally, I wouldn't have been so thrilled to death about getting a ride, but he'd bought a new motorcycle that was the envy of every boy in High School, and it got me to school faster than ever. 

I hopped in the shower, thinking about the dream I'd just had. It was basically the same as almost every one I'd had: I'd see Syaoran somewhere, we'd be nervous, I'd almost say it; and then I'd wake up. It had almost become part of my daily routine. 

If only I could see him in real life…

I'd tried to go to Hong Kong. Once I'd gotten my strength back, I used Fly and literally flew across the ocean, looking for him. Hong Kong had been even bigger than I'd expected, and it had taken time to find his house, but when I did, it was empty. No one had been willing to tell me where the Li family had gone; even better, I'd been drained once more and was stuck.

Needless to say, Touya hadn't been too happy with me. 

I turned off the water and pulled a towel off the rack. My hair stuck to my head, and I scowled; I'd still kept it short, remembering that I'd had it short when Syaoran was in town.

Funny how it took no more than three years to completely change the next four. 

__

It's been a long, long time since I looked into the mirror

I guess that I was blind; now my reflection's getting clearer

Now that you're gone, things will never be the same again

I watched the trees flash by as I perched on Touya's motorcycle, the breeze whipping my hair. At seventeen, I still was nowhere near his height, which drove me nuts, but it was just a fact of life. 

__

I wonder if Syaoran's as tall in real life as he is in the dreams, I wondered sadly. No matter how much time passed, the ache didn't go away; it only slowly numbed. How could I have let him get away like that? 

__

There's not a minute that goes by every hour of every day

You're such a part of me, but I just pulled away

"Here you go, Kaijou," Touya said casually. 

"I'm gonna let that slide," I retorted. "But watch your back.

"Uh huh." There was a rumble as he pulled off. 

"Hey, looks like the little flower's back," jeered a boy slumped against the wall with his friends. "Come over here and talk to us, baby."

"I'm sorry," I said coldly. "I don't converse with someone whose mental capacity is comparative to that of a common garden snail."

There were low whistles as I turned on my heel to walk away, but then the same boy yelled, "Then why do you talk to your mom?"

__

Well, I'm not the same girl you used to know

I froze, then slowly turned around. "Don't insult my mother," I growled.

"Why not, honey buns?" He leered at me. "Did she run off with someone?"

I lost it and rushed him, using my weight to slam him into the wall. He let out a surprised, choking gasp, and I dug my elbow into his collarbone and let him slide down the wall. 

"She's dead," I said harshly. "And you will be too if you try anything like that again." Picking up my bag, I marched up the steps and let the door swing shut behind me. 

"That was very nice," Tomoyo said cheerfully. "I thought they might cause trouble, but with Touya being here and all, it didn't seem like a problem."

"Not a problem at all," I said, just as cheerfully. _I wish Syaoran could've seen that,_ my mind arbitrarily murmured. _He would've been proud._

For some reason, that struck deeper than usual. I paused, swallowing, then shook my head and continued walking. 

__

I wish I said the words I never showed

I know you had to go away

I died just a little, and I feel it now

You're the one I need

"Anything wrong?" Tomoyo inquired.

"No," I said after a moment. "Nada." 

__

I believe that I would I cry just

Just to have you back now

Here with me

I glanced around the table, remembering all the good times my group had had. Chiharu was decking Yamazaki for one of his tales; Rika was laughing softly at them blushing at each other; Tomoyo was working on homework; and Naoko was lost in a book. Maybe I'd changed a little in order to adapt to the ways of High School, but they'd stayed the same, and it was fun.

But, as usual, it was shy one member: Syaoran. 

Sighing, I rested my chin in my hands and gazed out to the field, morose. 

For a moment, something on the field seemed to flicker, along with my magical senses, and I sat bolt upright. _What the—_

"Something the matter?" 

I turned back to the table and shook my head, donning a smile. "Nope, nothing."

Chiharu grinned suddenly. "She's thinking about Li."

I blushed a lovely maroon as Tomoyo and Rika smothered laughter. "Th-that's not funny, Chiharu!" 

"What?" Naoko glanced up. "What's going on?"

"Sakura's having fantasies about Li," Chiharu explained.

"CHIHARU!"

It was her sheer good fortune that the bell rang that instant, or I would have strangled her. "I thought you were the one who _hated_ lies," I muttered sullenly. 

She smiled innocently. "Oh, I do."

I shook my head and opted for the 'no comment'.

A sudden flash of memory made me halt: the last glimpse I'd had of Syaoran before he'd left. It was the thing that had haunted me the most by far: that last glimpse I'd had of him.

__

I never will forget that look upon your face

How you turned away and left 

Without a trace

Maybe he'd left because he'd known I'd need time to realize how I truly felt about him; maybe it was because the clan had needed him. I didn't know and honestly, I didn't care that much anymore. All it meant was that Syaoran had been gone for four years, and I was ready for him to come back.

I pushed the door open and sat down at my desk. Like usual, it was by the window. My eyelids slid until my eyes were half-closed, and I gazed dully outside. 

Something shot past the window, then vanished.

__

What the--?! Either I ate something I shouldn't have, or something's up!

A quick look around the classroom told me no one else had seen it; that either meant that they all had very low observation skills or that it was magic-related, and my money was on the second. 

"Everyone get to your seats!" the teacher barked, briskly striding in. "Your little social 'Happy Hour' is over!" The clatters of my classmates scrambling into their seats filled the air for a few moments, then stilled, and Ms. Yamada swept her gaze over us, then smiled. "Good." Walking around to the other side of the desk, she added, "We've got a new student today, and I've been informed he was here about four years ago, so maybe some of you will recognize him."

__

Oh, jeez. I should've known. I sighed, waiting for her next words. This scenario had gone on more than once in my dreams, so any minute now, I was going to wake up. _That explains why I saw those things. Well, this one was more realistic than usual._

"Please welcome Li Syaoran," Ms. Yamada said casually. "You can come on in now."

__

All right, I should be waking up in about ten seconds.

I kept my gaze fixed on my watch, but something forced my eyes up, and I saw that unruly brown hair, those eyes focused on the floor. Like usual, he was taller, but this was just a dream.

__

Five…

"Why don't you have a seat…over there, by Miss Kinomoto."

__

Three… I didn't even look as he nodded and quietly walked down the aisle, then sat in the desk on my right.

__

Two…one. I blinked, but nothing happened. Ms. Yamada didn't announce that I had to get ready for school or I'd be late; I didn't open my eyes to find myself staring at the pillow. 

__

Another ten seconds, I decided. I waited; nothing happened.

Frowning, I pinched myself, but the pain was real.

__

Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no.

This could _not_ be real life. There was no way. 

__

We'll see, I decided, my stomach in knots. _He'll probably want to talk to me after school, and if it's a dream, I'll wake up right before I can tell him._

Blushing, I sneaked a look at Syaoran. He was staring straight ahead.

I waited for Syaoran outside the door; he hadn't said anything to me all day. 

"Well, well, well. Look what we got here."

I whirled, only to find the same guy from earlier that morning, only this time, he'd brought reinforcements. His three friends grinned hungrily at me, hyena-like, and I suppressed a shiver. _This is one of those times when I hate having to wear a skirt,_ I thought darkly. _Good thing I wear shorts underneath._ More than one encounter like this had taught me a few things about fighting in school uniforms. 

I shrugged off my backpack, holding onto it by the straps, and let the first one get just close enough.

It almost made me feel sorry for him; he never saw it coming.

There was a thud as I swung the bag into his face, and considering I had a ton of homework and I'd needed all four of my textbooks, it was going to leave a mark. He fell as the next one charged at me. I tried to punch him in the face, but he seized my wrist. I wrenched it free and backed off, then feinted a punch and kicked him in the stomach. 

An arm wrapped around my throat and I gasped for breath. My eyes widened as I was lifted off the ground and the last one remaining advanced towards me, leering. 

__

Just…wait…

I squeezed my eyes shut, feigning helplessness, and listened for his footsteps to come closer. 

__

Now!

My leg shot out, catching him in the chin, and I rammed an elbow back into my captor's stomach. He wheezed and dropped me, and I finished him off with a punch in the face. 

"I guess some people are just slow learners," I muttered, a bit out of breath.

Something made me look up, and I saw a movement at one of the windows, but then it was gone. Somehow, though, I could tell—Syaoran had seen. 

He came out a few minutes later. I was waiting for him on the steps, but the moment he came through the door, I knew something was wrong.

"Syaoran? Are you okay?"

He glanced at me, then looked away and said, "Yeah. Fine."

I stood. "Why'd you come back?" I asked quietly.

Syaoran looked down for a second, then said, "Something's happening."

"What is it?" I asked, surprised. All thoughts of this being a dream had vanished, along with what I had lamented for the past four years: not being able to tell him how I felt. 

His head snapped up. It was almost as if fire roared up in his eyes, even though he still wasn't looking at me. 

"None of your business," he said coldly. "Stay out of it." And with that, he continued walking down the steps. Within seconds, he was gone.

Stunned, I could only stand there and stare after him.

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**__**

Oh, yay! More depressing goodness! More to come soon, yakusoku-o-shimas. (I promise.)


	3. You Go, Girl!

Falling Apart

Chapter Three: You Go, Girl!

___

**__**

Well, well, well. I don't think I'll be putting off the inevitable any longer than I have to… ::sigh:: You'll be wanting me to start the fic now, won't you? Oh dear…well, here goes…You know, maybe if I kill Syaoran off enough times, I won't have to put a disclaimer up! ^^

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The cherry blossoms swirled around me in a light pink blizzard as I slowly paced down the sidewalk, walking back home. My mind was still struggling to comprehend what had just happened; I honestly couldn't believe it myself. 

I could remember that day, when he'd said it. It was one of my most precious memories. 

__

"I…I love you."

And how could he say that to me, and then turn around and tell me, no less than ten minutes ago, that why he was here was none of my business and that I should stay out of it? What was this, some kind of cruel dream? 

What was going on? 

I took a deep, shaking breath, and then something broke in my mind and I stumbled into a frantic run. The petals fluttering down seemed no more than a mockery to me and my inner tumult. The beautiful day, the blooming trees, the birdsong, the sunshine; it was all a joke, a heartless, cold joke that only hurt me more. 

For the past four years, I'd planned what I'd say if I ever got the chance to see him again. I'd see him, he'd see me; we wouldn't believe it was each other; I'd pause, then say slowly, "Syaoran?" He'd only stare at me; I'd chew my lip, overwrought with emotion, then throw myself into his arms and hear him whisper, "I missed you so much." I'd squeeze back tears, and reply, "I missed you too." And then I'd finally say it: "I…Syaoran, I…love you."

Well, that was all screwed now. 

I clunked up the steps and threw the door open, only to find a piece of paper stuck to the door. Scowling, I snatched it off and glowered at it.

__

Hey Kaijou,

One of my friends needs some help at college, so I'm heading out there. I should be back around nine unless something goes wrong. Don't answer the phone. If it's me, I'll leave a message. Try not to break anything and for the love of Kami don't use any appliances unless it's absolutely necessary. 

--Touya

P.S. Lock the door! And no magic!

I sighed. _He's so damn protective of me…_ My shoes thudded against the wall as I kicked them off and slid into the house slippers, then pushed the door open. "I'm home, Kero."

"Hey!" He flew down the stairs, grinning widely. "Any sign of the kid yet?"

He always asked me this, every day, and it'd become part of my routine. This time, though, he was going to get a shock. 

"Yes," I said dryly. "I asked him why he was back and he said it was none of my business. Oh yes, and to stay out of it. That was about all the communication we had, thank you."

There was silence behind me, and then Kero yelled, "He's _back?!"_

"Oh, I'm so glad you noticed." I stomped up the stairs and into my room, slamming the door shut behind me. 

What was I going to wear? What if I had to go out for groceries and ran into Syaoran? What if—

__

Shut up and change, snapped the bossy voice in my head to which I was infinitely grateful. 

I pulled a green shirt out of my dresser and a pair of jeans, turning my thoughts towards the two things that I'd seen. A flicker of something in the field, and then something magical shooting past the window…Something was definitely up. 

Kero was waiting outside the door for me. "Why do you think he's here?"

"I don't know," I said exasperatedly. And then it clicked.

"Kero, I saw something in the field, and then outside the window," I said swiftly. "Both times, I could sense magic too."

He stopped dead. "What did it look like?" he demanded.

"I—I don't know." I tried to remember, but got nothing. "It just…flickered."

"And the brat's back in town, but he won't say why?"

"Yeah, and he's not a brat."

Kero's expression darkened until it was comparative to a thundercloud and he floated down the rest of the stairs, muttering under his breath. 

"Kero?" I called, pounding downstairs after him. "What's going on?" He didn't reply. "Kero?"

"You've got to get out of here," he said abruptly. "Don't ask questions."

"What?" I lost it. "What the _hell_ is going on?" I yelled. "There's no point in trying to hide whatever's happening from me, because I've already _noticed_ that _something_ is up, and pretending it _isn't_ is _not_ going to help anything!" Shimmers of green power started to rise off my skin, but I ignored it. "Now, I highly suggest you tell me right now what exactly is going on before I lose my temper, Kero!"

He shook his head in resignation, then motioned for me to follow him into the living room. Once there, I collapsed on the couch. 

"There is a dimension other than ours," he said slowly. "All your science fiction novels and fantasy stories get their basis from them, or at least the stories that come from sightings."

"And this has to do with me…how?" I asked confusedly.

He glared at me. "I'm getting to that!" Crossing his arms, he hovered by the window, staring out at the dying sun. "On the other side, there's a crapload of demons, monsters, and other little bundles of joy. Every two thousand years, the shield between dimensions starts to break down and holes appear over one area, kinda like the hole in the ozone layer. At first, the gaps aren't big enough to let even the smallest demons out, but then they get bigger and more nasty stuff gets through." Before I could ask anything, he continued. "The shield always starts breaking down over the area where there's the greatest concentration of magic, which happens to be here because of everything that's gone on. The residue from all the battles and Cards that were running around and your lessons has built up, along with the presence of part of Clow Read himself, the Cards, and you."

"So what do I do?" I asked frantically. "Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Because no one knew the exact year it was supposed to happen," Kero said grimly. "The only artifact telling when it last happened was found about fifty years ago. It was a stone wheel with scenes of the Breaking on it, and the curators had said it was anywhere from 2050 to 2100 years old before the museum it was in was burned down and the stone destroyed. That wasn't a coincidence; it had been under a demon curse. But the important thing is that everyone's been in alert mode for the past few decades, and then you opened the book. It wasn't supposed to create that much of a disturbance, and the hope was that the Breaking would happen over England or Hong Kong, but I guess you're stronger than we thought."

"So that's why Syaoran's in town," I said softly. 

"The Clan probably realized what a hot zone this place is, and someone probably Foresaw the Breaking here." His tail flicked back and forth. "It makes sense that they'd send him…but I think he's more of a scout than anything. When it gets worse, he's gonna hafta call in the cavalry."

"The clan?" Kero nodded. "Oh no…"

"What's the matter?"

I buried my face in my hands. "I don't think the clan's going to like me very much." The view from here was really quite interesting… "After all, I made their leader break off his betrothal, took possession of the Cards which, by their rules, belong in their family, and…well, honestly, I just exist."

"Yeah, well, you could change them all into tree frogs if you so desired, and they know that," Kero snorted. "And you've got the Cards and the Guardians. They should stay off your ass."

"That's the—" I broke off suddenly as a shiver ran up my spine. "Kero…do you sense something?"

He'd frozen too. "It's a Rip outside your house."

"How big?" I hardly dared to ask. 

"We won't know until we go find out." He changed into his true form…and landed on the coffee table. 

There was a crack and a thud, and I smacked my forehead. "Dammit, Kero, that's the fourth one this month!"

"Sorry," he said sheepishly. 

"Come on." I pulled out the Key and it automatically shot into the wand; I didn't need the incantations anymore. Going through the foyer, I pressed my ear against the door and strained to hear anything. Though my ears weren't picking up much other than the slight breeze, my magical sense was buzzing like a nest of angry hornets. 

And then whatever was out there got worse. 

"We need to get rid of this now!" I threw the door open and peered frantically through the growing darkness for anything unusual. My gaze was immediately caught by a long line of something white, like someone had torn a gap in a piece of cloth and held it to a window. As we watched, it undulated, then widened. 

"How do I close it, Kero?" I asked tremulously.

He flinched. "Blood Sacrifice. Something's gotta die, and that'll do it." He grinned feebly. "Here's hoping that it'll be the demon."

The Rip shook, then contracted. The light turned a dirty crimson, and then _something_ exploded out.

It stood on two legs, with a long, scaly tail, and the top half was alternately covered in fur and open flesh. The head was that of a bull, but the horns were iron and at least three times longer than any I'd ever seen. 

And, as I quickly discovered, it breathed fire. 

__

"Aaaagh!" I dove to the left as a fireball lit a patch of fire. The creature's hollow eyes glinted and it whirled, charging towards me. 

"Sakura, that's a Minotaur!" Kero yelled, trying to get close enough to land a hit, but the horns were too long and they kept him back.

__

A Minotaur? _That was a legendary beast thing, wasn't it? In the maze and all?_

It was also very fast. And it had lion's claws instead of hands.

This was _so_ not my day. 

I rolled away from a swipe, then jumped to dodge another. The ground was uneven where I landed, though, and I stumbled and fell on my face. When I looked over my shoulder, the Minotaur was rushing at me, horns pointed at my heart.

I swiftly switched the wand to my left hand and moved my right in the symbol-movement for a shield spell. The Shield Card was stronger, but I didn't have time.

Something seized me by the arm just as I finished and pulled me out of the way. The Minotaur struck the completed shield and bounced off as we landed on the branch of the tree by my room. 

"Hey!" I wrenched free, irritated. "In case you didn't notice, I was perfectly fine!" Scowling, I turned to face my companion and found Syaoran staring at the Minotaur. _Oh jeez, I just mouthed off to him. _

Well, since he obviously doesn't think I can handle myself, I think it's time for some fireworks. This thing's got a fire element, so…

I inhaled, then tucked the wand under my arm. This spell was actually stronger than the Card, but not many people could use it. 

Lifting a hand, I used my first finger on my right hand to draw a vertical line in front of me, about a foot long. A beam of white light followed my fingertip, and I held it at the bottom. Using the first finger of my left hand, I touched the bottom of the light-line, then drew a complete circle. The original line went exactly down the center, and my hands ended up crossing. I placed a hand on either side of the glowing circle and spanned my fingers as evenly as possible. Ten more lines neatly joined in the center, and ripples of light bounced away from them when they connected. 

Reaching my hands into the actual circle, I grasped the light beams and twisted them carefully. Once I'd set the pattern, I withdrew my hands and whispered a single word; it was the Activation word for all the spells I did. Everyone's Activation word was different. 

__

"Kyviss."

The circle twirled, the light turning blue, then spun like a wheel of fire. The charge built up, and it flew over to the Minotaur. There was a flash, and then it was bound by a ring of water and ice.

The Minotaur roared, a horrible shriek that sounded like the grate of metal on metal, and thrashed wildly. Syaoran leapt off the branch and I dropped neatly to the ground, trying to think of how to kill it. 

__

Well, I could just use Watery to weaken it even more, I figured. _Sounds good to me._ "Watery Card!" 

The spirit shot out and hissed at the Minotaur. It snarled in reply, and she scowled, then flew over it and drenched it.

"Very nice," I said smugly as Watery returned to my side. She winked and vanished into the Card. 

There was a shriek from the bound Minotaur and I whipped around to stare at it. Syaoran dodged the horns, burying his sword to the hilt in the monster's stomach.

It howled as he pulled it free, and the same ugly red light as the Rip burned in its eyes. 

"It's done for!" Kero yelled, hovering overhead. 

"Oh, spiffy," I remarked sarcastically. The only problem was that it wasn't quite dead yet. 

The Binding Water broke, and the Minotaur fell to all fours, stumbled a few steps, then broke into a run, those iron horns aimed once more at me. I staggered back, only to bump into the wall. The burning scarlet sockets bored into my skull, the seconds stretching eternal, and I clenched my eyes shut.

There was a sickening thud, but no pain. I heard a gasp and my eyes flew open, only to find something in front of me, straining against something. I could feel the Minotaur in front of me, but all I could see was darkness. 

And then the burning fury and darkness died away. Whatever was blocking me said slowly, "Take it to the Rip."

"R-Right." I slipped out and Syaoran leaned against the wall, breathing with difficulty. And then I saw why. 

My hand flew to cover my mouth, and all that I said was, "Oh, Jesus Christ, Syaoran."

A growing patch of red was spreading from under his fingers. "Just—get it over there," he whispered through gritted teeth. "I don't want to deal with another one." 

I swallowed, then moved my right hand in a circle, brought it to the bottom of the invisible ring, turned it palm up, and lifted it, muttering, _"Kyviss."_ The body of the Minotaur lifted, and I sent it to the glowing red Rip. 

The red flared, and the body vanished, along with the light. All that was left was the darkness of twilight. 

Turning on my heel, I ran over to where Syaoran was still leaning against the wall. The sword had gone back into his pendant, and his eyes were closed. The blood was spreading from that one spot near the bottom of his ribcage, and I realized he'd blocked the Minotaur from doing the same to me. 

"Come on," I said tremulously. "Let's get you inside." I took his free arm and draped it over my shoulders, keeping a hold on his wrist even though my knees felt like they were going to give out any second. 

I barely managed to get him to the couch. He collapsed there, leaning against the back, his chest heaving. I swallowed, then knelt on the floor as Kero flew in, back in his false form. "Lift up your shirt."

Syaoran cracked open an eye and gave me a look, and I tried to hide a blush. "I need to get a better look at that, you pervy freak." [AN: Don't you just love them as moody teenagers? I mean, they're both seventeen, so it's not like they're quite as naïve as before.]

He blushed too, but lifted it up. I winced at the bloody wound, and realized from the whistling sound that he'd punctured a lung. _This is going to be harder than I thought._ "How many ribs did you break?" 

"Three…I think…" he said, his voice barely audible. I could see sweat break out on his pale face. 

__

I'll use a painkiller spell first, I decided, clenching my fist. "Kero, get the poppysivver, the yarrow, the borage, the sepole, the ainigir, the erawft, and the detimil. And a lot of bandage."

"Right." He flew upstairs as I carefully held a hand over the wound and concentrated on the Wind elements around us. They could at least take the pain until I could make the compound. _Wind, I beseech you of your calm._

A wisp of green mist floated out and dissipated, and Syaoran's eyes opened as Kero returned, a trail of containers behind him. They all landed neatly on the table, along with a bag that clinked when it landed on the coffee table. 

I opened the bag and pulled out first a wad of bandage, then a bowl, then a single measuring cup. "I need magic measures," I told it, and the lines on its glass surface faded, then reappeared. It could use any measuring system named. "A cup of warm water," I added, and it obediently filled up, which was another of its functions. 

"Where'd you get that?" I could barely hear Syaoran's voice.

I turned and glowered at him. "Don't talk! You've got a flipping punctured lung! At least wait until I can get some bandage on it, for the love of god!" Scowling, I returned to my work. "I got this from Eriol and Kaho when they came back, just so you know. And before you say anything," I added before he could say anything, "_yes,_ they came back, so I could actually learn to use my magic. Now don't distract me, unless you really are fond of that nice big hole in your ribcage." 

Silence met my words, and I smiled slightly to myself. _Now, I'm going to need some of **this…** and a pinch of the borage…_ Pulling the lid off the borage container, I took a tiny bit out and turned it into powder with a simple spell, then dropped it into the water, along with the erawft leaves and a few of the other herbs. Holding my hand over the measuring cup, I finished it in an instant and lifted my gaze to the cupboard in the kitchen. It opened, and a mug floated over. Promptly dumping into the mug, I gave it a little more warmth and handed it to Syaoran. "It's not going to taste very nice, but it'll help. And don't talk."

He merely raised his eyebrows, and I went back to the rest of what I had to do. 

Frowning in concentration, I pulled out the measuring spoons and scooped this and that into the bowl. "Two tablespoons water," I ordered the cup, picking it up and pouring it in. I stirred the paste for a moment, then studied it, mentally making sure it would work, then scraped it out and put it on a clean linen square. "This…might sting a little," I warned Syaoran. He shrugged, and I gritted my teeth, took a deep breath, and held it to the wound. 

He tensed, but I hardly noticed, my eyes closed in concentration. Sheer healing magic was going through my hand and into him, but it was going fairly fast. My teeth started to hurt as I clenched them tighter, but I ignored that, forcing the bone and flesh to rebuild and the wounds to heal by the power of my will. 

It was over in a few seconds, but it had taken more power than I'd expected. When I opened my eyes, Syaoran was staring at me. 

"What?" I asked dizzily. 

" 'Sting' was not the word," he said dryly. " 'Battery acid' would be more accurate, but it still would not be the word."

I shrugged. "It builds character." 

He raised an eyebrow. "Sakura, I'm sure if you look in the dictionary, 'character' will not have the same definition as 'railroad spike in your ribs.'"

"Of course not," I replied innocently. "That's more than one word. Now, give me that shirt so it doesn't get ruined. One of Touya's should fit, you're about the same size now."

He yawned and I hid a smirk; one of the herbs in the drink I'd made had been a sleep enhancer. "No." 

I sighed heavily. "I'll get you the shirt first, and I'll turn around. Honestly, Syaoran, after four years, I would have thought you were out of the cootie stage." He gave me one of his infamous glares, and I returned it, snapping, "Don't you give me that look. At least _I'm_ mature enough to not be thinking about either girl-germs or sex when someone wants you to change your shirt because there's a nice big bloodstain on it."

__

OH MY GOD, I DID **NOT** JUST SAY THAT TO SYAORAN. 

My life was, by any reasonable standards, over. 

And then Kero didn't help.

"Yeah!" He flew up and grinned at me while I turned several varying shades of red. "You go, girl!"

"I…didn't…mean that," I managed to choke out. "I'm…gonna go get that shirt." 

I think that, had there been a stopwatch nearby, I could have set a new world record for fastest exit from a room. 

Once in Touya's bedroom, I leaned against the wall, blushing. _I can't believe I just said that…_

__

Shirt. Shirt. That's what I'm here to get. That's what started this whole thing. I staggered over to the chest of drawers and pulled out a T-shirt of Touya's, then took a steadying breath and walked out. 

When I came back out, Syaoran was asleep.

And shirtless.

__

Oh, jeez.

I stood there for a moment, trying to figure out what to do. _It wasn't supposed to work so fast!_ And then I realized I was almost drained—I'd be falling asleep any minute, which meant I didn't have the time to clean up or anything. _And Touya said no magic…well, that's too bad…_ I'd just have to make Syaoran as comfortable as possible and hope that wherever I fell asleep wasn't too weird. 

"Kero, help me out here, will you?" I grumbled, kneeling by Syaoran's side. _Maybe I can get him in the guest bedroom…_

And then my vision started to fade. _Oh, no…_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There were very few things that Kinomoto Touya disliked. He was, after all, a very easy person to get along with—assuming you didn't get in his face. 

But there were a few exceptions. Akizuki Nakuru, for instance. She practically stalked him. And that kid with the glasses, who'd been terrorizing Sakura in the yesteryears. 

And then there was that brat. 

Oh, how he hated that brat. After all, not only had he hurt Sakura's feelings more than once, but then he had to go and fall in love with her, and then he left her when she needed him most. Sure, he knew about the deal with the Cards. Sure, he knew the kid had some serious family issues. So he knew the whole story; that was still no reason for him to actually like the guy.

Maybe if they had met under different circumstances…

But they hadn't. And that was the point.

He simply couldn't deal with Li Syaoran. That was that.

Touya turned the corner, headed towards his house. He'd taken the bus back to Tomoeda; hopefully, Sakura had been fine. His friend's father had just had a stroke, and he needed to be there for her, so Sakura would understand. It wasn't like her to get angry over the little things, so he wasn't worried. 

At least, he wasn't worried until he came to the driveway and saw the scorched patches in their lawn and the ground torn up in places.

"Sakura?!" He wished he had his magic so he could sense for her aura, but that was gone. Heart pounding, he raced inside, ignoring tradition and keeping his shoes on as he ran through the foyer only to find his little sister—

Part-kneeling on the ground, her arm and head resting on the bare chest of none other than Li Syaoran.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**__**

Something tells me that's_ not going to go over too well…_


	4. The Cavalry Arrives

Falling Apart

Chapter Four: The Cavalry Arrives

**__**

HAAAAALLLLLLOOOOOOO!!! Well, it seems you all liked the last chapter. And I feel it is my duty to inform you that no, this is not the fic formerly known as "Away from Home," and this isn't being written by the artist formerly known as Prince.

But, before you get too comfortable, HEAR THIS: "Away from Home" has been retitled. It is now going to be known as "Once Again" due to several things, NONE OF WHICH SHALL BE DISCLOSED HERE. It's for me to know and you to read! :D

Moving right alongOn with the fic!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was bad enough that the brat had returned, reflected Touya. And that he'd brought some kind of demon-dimension-death-doom-and-imminent-destruction-descending-upon-the-world-in-a-fiery-burning-blaze-of-terror thing along with him. 

But then Sakura had to go and insist that he stay in the house until he was better.

Sure, having a demon-horn rammed through your lung had to hurt. And she'd repeated time and time again that he'd kept it from happening to _her._ And he gave the creep credit for that, he really did. 

But it still didn't mean he wanted _him_ sleeping in _their _house. Touya didn't even want to think about what could happen if he left them alone.

This was one of those times that he wished he'd installed a surveillance system in every room, along with motion detectors and built-in canisters of pepper spray, particularly in Sakura's room

And then there was the problem of having a sorceress–and a temporarily invalid of a sorceress at that–for a sister. Or, more accurately, what she made him do.

"Oniiiiichan!"

Scowling, he got to his feet and stomped up the stairs, slouching into Sakura's room. "Now what?"

She weakly lifted an empty glass and waved it, managing a feeble grin. "More lemonade, please?"

"Fine." Face dark as a storm cloud, he stalked out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I watched Touya leave and waited until he was all the way out to close the door with my magic and sit up. My reserves were still pretty low, but ever since I'd installed that spell, it took no more than a thought. 

"You do realize you're cheating," Kero remarked dryly.   
"Yep," I replied, turning on the TV. "Besides, it's good for him. He could always use exercise, and I need my lemonade." Oddly enough, it was one of the things that helped restore my magic the fastest, which meant I'd be downing it by the gallon in order to be ready in case of another Rip.

It'd been four days since Syaoran had arrived, and he'd only woken up once since I'd knocked him out. _I must have put a bit too much in,_ I thought wryly, _but everyone needs sleep nowadays._ "Kero, go check on Syaoran."

"Why?" he asked, flipping idly through the channels. 

"First, because I said so and I presume you don't want to end up as a bunny rabbit until I decide to change you back. Second, because he could be awake and I want to know if he is."

"Okay, okay." Grumbling all the way, he opened the door and flew out.

Touya's footsteps started to thump up the stairs and I hurriedly shut off the TV with a mental twist and slumped back down, half-closing my eyes in false exhaustion. "Here's your lemonade, kaijou," he muttered, then mumbled something that sounded oddly like "I hope you drown in it."

"Thank you, Touya," I rasped.

"Whatever." He walked out and I waited until he was gone to sit up once again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Syaoran hadn't woken up yet, and he wouldn't wake up for another day and a half. By then, I was back to about half my strength–it always took a while to come back from fully draining–and sadly, Touya refused to wait on me anymore since I could walk around on my own.

Unfortunately, the Clan made their appearance before then. 

I was in the kitchen, downing another glass of lemonade–which I was also starting to despise–when an enormous bolt of magic residue lashed through the air. 

__

"What the–?!"

There was a painful-sounding _thud_ and a resentful _"Shit!"_ that sounded like it came from Kero as my head snapped up and I instinctively shivered. It took a moment for me to get my nerves together enough to try and find whatever that had been.

And then I found it was a transportation spell. A big one. So big, in fact, that it could have teleported the entire Clan from Hong Kong into King Penguin Park, with guards built in so no one would notice.

And that was what it had done.

"Oh, _crap."_ Scowling, I straightened up, then left the kitchen, grabbing a jacket as I did so. "Touya, the Clan's here and I've gotta go make sure they don't blow up anything. Be back in a few minutes." Slipping on a pair of sneakers, I shut the door behind me, then opened it again and added, "And don't kill Syaoran. I don't want blood on the carpet."

Truly leaving this time, I set out, my pace hurried. My magic hadn't regenerated to the extent that I could use a transport spell, so I'd have to settle for walking. 

Rounding the corner, I found an interesting sight: about a hundred people, all in Chinese clothing, milling around the King Penguin Slide. Wards hovered around them, spells inserted to make people forget what they'd seen or not think it out of the ordinary. I brushed them aside like cobwebs as I passed. 

"Um, hello?" I paused, unsure what to do next. "I'm Sakura Kinomoto, the Card Mistressand, um, welcome to Tomoeda."

A young woman with fiery red hair and snapping brown eyes stormed up to me. "Where is he?" she demanded. "Where's Xiao Lang?"

"Sya–" I stopped before calling him by his first name; it might not have looked very good to the Clan. "He–he had a bad encounter with a Minotaur andwell, ended up with a nasty flesh wound. He's recovering at my house."

"AT YOUR _HOUSE?!"_

Ears still ringing, I picked myself up from the tree I'd flown into after being bowled over by the redhead's screech. "Yes. At my house. It was the closest place and he had a hole in his lung that was approximately two inches across and took so much magic to keep from _killing_ him that it knocked _both_ of us out for three days." Now very irritated, I let my temper show a little so these people would see I was _not_ going to be pushed around. "Is that all of the third degree, or do you want to see my resume and birth certificate as well? And the next time you and your friends decide to transport enough people to populate a small nation into the middle of my town, I'd appreciate a little warning!"

"I thought you said you sent a message!" accused a familiar voice. "You didn't tell her and _still_ decided to go through with this?!" People stepped away from the speaker, a tall young woman with navy hair pulled away from her face in two neat buns and blazing ruby-red eyes

"Lady Mei Ling, please calm down," begged a shorter, nervous-looking man.

"I will not calm down! Have you _any_ notion of what you're doing to this woman?! You're lucky she didn't have a hernia! And that she's not frying us all like bacon where we stand!"

"We must apologize, Lady Card Mistress," added a calmer, yet more forceful voice that could only belong to Yelan. All immediately knelt in the grass, and I wasn't sure whether I was supposed to or not. "I was informed that you had been notified and had given your approval. We will see to it that the one responsible for thiserror will be punished. And I must express my apologies again at the short notice. The communication link with Xiao Lang was cut off, and we could only assume the worst. Thank you also for tending to him. You've done our Clan a great service."

"It–It's fine," I stammered, now embarrassed at my outburst. "I believe he's awake at the moment, so if you want to speak with him, you're welcome to."

"We would greatly appreciate that." She looked ready to add something else when four blurs suddenly rammed into me.

"SAKURA!"

"Look at her!!!"

"You've gotten so _tall!"_

"Isn't she just _adorable!"_

Within seconds, my cheeks had lost all feeling and I was struggling for breath. The four shapes that were Fan Ren, Fei Mei, She Fa, and Fuu Tie had me in something that strongly resembled a head lock and while I didn't want to offend them, I didn't want to slowly suffocate to death either. 

"Ack–"

"I think she's trying to say something," Fan Ren said slowly.

"Come on, Sakura, spit it out," She Fa encouraged.

"Br–Br–Breathe," I wheezed. "N–Need t-to–breathe"

"But we're already breathing." Fei Mei looked puzzled.

"Maybe she said weave,'" suggested Fuu Tie. "Wait–is that–"

Simultaneously, four heads turned the same direction, four mouth opened, and four squeals came out in perfect, ear-rending discord.

"TOUYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

My knees almost gave out and I tottered for a moment, then regained my balance, no longer in a stranglehold and able to breathe once again. There were a series of high-pitched screeches and irritated grumbling, and I didn't dare to look behind me, though I could practically feel Touya getting closer and closer to losing it.

"I called first dibs on him!"  
"But I want him!"

"You guys always get first dibs! I want him first!"

"You didn't call him first! I did!"

"No, I did!"

"No, I did!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

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"GOD DAMMIT!" bellowed Touya, his eye twitching. **"NONE** OF YOU GET FIRST DIBS ON ME!"

"But Touya–" Four pairs of saddened eyes and four pouting faces stared at him accusingly.

"But _nothing!"_ he snapped. When they didn't stop giving him the puppy face, he lost it and yelled, "I'M _GAY!"_

""

""

""

""

"Oh, well," sighed Fan Ren. "All the good ones are nowadays." 

"You're telling me."

"What a shame"

"Sakura," he started, pushing past the dejected sisters and stomping towards me, "your little friend is kicking up a fuss and you might want to go dope him up or something before he reopens the wound and dies or a horrible painful death." He looked rather happy at that thought. "Not that I've got any objections to that, though"

__

"Touya!" I hissed. "This is his _family_ and if they want they can turn you into an oversized Won Ton and serve you to their guests!"

"Oh." He blinked, then grinned innocently. "Um, yeah, I love the guy, he's a real–um–"

I _knew_ he wanted to say pain in the ass.' I just _knew_ it. 

"–a real polite guy, right Touya?" I gave him my if you don't smile and agree with me right now I'm going to break you in half and shove you down the nearest garbage disposal I can find' look. It worked.

"Yeah, a real polite guy!" He smiled in the pained way that looked like it hurt his teeth. 

"Well, I'd better go check on him, then." Crossing my mental fingers, I took a deep breath, preparing to do a quick transport spell. I needed to look like I had magic to burn right then so I could keep up what I hoped was an impressive countenance, and walking instead of teleporting wouldn't look very impressive. "My house is just around the corner–it's the one with the really burnt lawn." There was a flicker as I forced down on my magic, and then the park vanished, replaced by the hallway. Gasping for breath, I leaned against the wall–that had taken too much strength. _Extra lemonade tonight,_ I thought ruefully.

Straightening, I stalked into Syaoran's room. "What's the matter with you?" I barked, my nerves wearing thin. "In case you didn't notice, your entire Clan just dropped into the middle of King Penguin Park and I spent the last half hour dealing with them, so the last thing _I_ need is _you_ going postal on me!"

He ignored my tirade. "So they're here, then?"

"No, Sherlock, they're in Singapore," I said sarcastically. "Of course they're here! Is that _it?!"_

"You don't understand," he said angrily. "They aren't going to be happy that I got hurt–"

"And you think I didn't find that out?" Ready to strangle him, I settled with clenching my fists. "Your little redheaded friend made that _very_ clear, Syaoran, and I just wasted about half of the magic I've regenerated making sure that you don't drown in your own blood if you reopen that wound. Unless you want to end up in a coma for the next week so you won't screw up yourself, I suggest you shut up and go back to sleep!" Scowling fiercely, I stormed out of the room.

It was official. I hated the majority of the Clan, and the majority of the Clan hated me.

Oh, sure, Mei Ling, Yelan, and the four sisters were nice enough. Sure, when they were with me, the nasty comments and dirty looks were kept to a minimum. But when they weren't there and I had to go to Clow Read's house to talk with them, the looks people gave me were the kind that were colder than an arctic wind and twice as harsh. 

"Dirty half-blood."

"cheated us out of the Cards."

"Low-down bitch."

Oh, yeah. They loved me.

The first time I went over to the house–the Clan had unofficially moved in; it was the only house large enough for them, and I found myself glad that the plans to build an amusement park there had been cancelled–was to discuss the Rip and the Minotaur. The second time, Yue and Kero accompanied me, keeping most comments at bay. We discussed what was going to happen; by then, I'd completely regained my magic and was at full strength. 

The way things were going to go was strange, but made sense. Rips were going to start coming more often and bigger, and the Clan would help handle them. They'd brought about ten of their best healers, too, so I wouldn't be called on to do any major workings until the Final Rip.

The Final Rip was when the barrier would completely open, starting with a huge tear that would grow and grow until the dimension's wall was completely split. Unchecked, demons would infest the world and nothing would be able to stop them. With the Clan by my side, though, and my guardians here, we'd be able to seal the Final Rip and the barrier would remain whole until the next Breaking. 

Unfortunately, the demons coming through the Final Rip were ones we hadn't dealt with and wouldn't deal with until then. They were too large and powerful to come through anything else, and were called the Greater Demons. The hope was that as soon as one was killed, its death would seal the rip and that would be the end of that. It definitely seemed simple enough.

The third time I went over to the house was to return Syaoran. This earned me plenty of looks that could most likely take the paint off of a house, but having had previous experience with this from Syaoran, I was to some extent immune. 

By then, they'd been there a week. About three Rips had shown up, but it had been easy enough to take care of them and the things that had come through. After each one, there was work to be done among the wounded, though thankfully no one died. At the end of the week, it seemed everything was starting to settle down into at least something of a routine. At least it had been the last day of school Friday

And then things were thrown into an uproar again. There was only one person who could throw the entire Clan into an uproar. Okay, maybe two, but Tomoyo had already been terrorizing them with her outfit designs for the past week and they no longer feared her. Sort of.

But only one person could cause the widespread chaos and holy terror that it would take to unnerve even Yelan.

And that was Nakuru.

"HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!! Where's Touya?" She darted around at the kind of speed that could only be brought on by an extreme sugar high, and everywhere she went, people scattered like she bore some kind of infectious disease. 

Eriol watched it all, a benign smile on his face, and I stood in the doorway, my heart sinking. _Oh NO_

And then Suppi found the sugar bowl.

Fairly soon, blasts of red energy were issuing from the already-full mouth of the tiny blue-black cat, headed for anyone who had tried to take his cache of cupcakes, cinnamon rolls, lollipops, and other cavity-inducing sugar-saturated food items.

Eriol still watched it all, the benign smile not faltering for a second.

It occurred to me that I did, indeed, hate my life.

"GET IT OFF GET IT OFF GET IT OFF!!!" screamed a young man whom Nakuru had just latched gleefully onto. Flames erupted in one corner of the yard, which I assumed were also thanks to Suppi.

And there went my routine.

I didn't get out of the house until late that night. Eriol had demanded his house back, I'd negotiated a treaty between him and the Clan, and Suppi had consumed every scrap of sugar on the premises before he was contained. 

I let myself out the back door and leaned briefly against the wall, eyes closed. Who would have ever guessed that my relatively ordinary, if somewhat dull life would have descended into chaotic disorder within the course of a week? And Tomoyo wasn't helping, with her and Eriol flirting at each other to the point that I nearly projectile vomited on them. It was a good thing he and Kaho had had a clean breakup three years ago or bad things definitely would have happened. 

"Well, look what we've got here." A shadow drew closer, a second one on his heels. "If it isn't the _Card Mistress._ Still gracing' us with your presence?"

"Actually, I was just leaving," I said impassively through gritted teeth. 

"Oh, come on," the second man taunted. "Stay and have some fun with us."

"I'd rather not, thank you." Turning, I started to walk away when one of them grabbed my wrist.

I yanked him forward and kneed him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him, and dropped him on the grass. The other man growled and started towards me when someone stepped in front of me.

"That's enough," Syaoran said slowly, his voice colder than the bitterest winter wind. "Leave her alone."

"Y-y-yessir!" Both men scrambled away, vanishing into the night.

I wasn't sure whether to snap at him that I could take care of myself or thank him for helping me, but I was saved from having to decide.

"Xiao Lang, there you are!" The redhead from the park bowled into him, much in the manner of Mei Ling. "I was worried about you! You haven't got all your strength back, sweetie, and you can't be straining yourself like this!"

"I believe we've met," I managed to get out, "but I didn't catch your name." 

The girl merely glared at me, then turned her head. "I don't know how you can stand this trash, Xiao Lang," she sniffed.

He shifted uncomfortably. "Sakura–this is Sun Fua." After a moment, he added, "She's my fiancée." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**__**

::does happy dance:: I finally got this u-up! I finally got this u-up! ::does more happy dance:: It's summer vacation! The sky is blue, the sun is shining, and all the little birdies came out to play!

More importantly, it's SUMMER VACATION. Which only means one thing.

I'm writing a book!!!!!

Now, you must understand, I will be using bits and pieces of other stories I've written, such as one of the parts from Stone and Starfire, and another twist from another one and so on. I'll tell you my pen name, though, and the names of the stories and the main characters so you know it's my story and not some poser. My pen name will either be J. Hane (J stands for Jade and Hane is Wing' in Japanese, pronounced Hah-nay, though in the penname it's pronounced Hane like the underwear brand.) or Lily Black because I have this really cool character I'm going to use in another story called Black Lillian. The first book is going to be called Legacy'--I think. The second will be called Griffyn Rogue,' and the third will be called The Tya.' The main character will be Fynn, her teacher will be Hectus, her best friend is called Sorene (Soe-ren-nay, F.Y.I.) and her sword will be called Aladriel. No takey-take ANY of these, because I'm USING them! (And maybe you can write fanfiction about them later! -^_^-) And just so you know, I've also got another story I'll do under another pen name, and it's going to be just as cool!

And THAT is what I'm going to do over summer vacation!

(Dramatic Pause)

Oh yesh. You probably want me to explain that little cliffhanger I left there.

^^

I won't. All I'll say is that there is one more chapter to go.

And we all know what happens in either the last chapter or the second to last.

Yes, that's right. 

Someone must die.

::does happy dance:: Don't you just LOVE summer vacation?


	5. Apocalypse

Falling Apart

Chapter Five: Apocalypse 

**__**

Well, well, well. Here we are, the end of the story. I left off at a nice little place, don't you think? Personally, I'd like to see Sakura and Sun Fua get into a catfight over Syaoran, but then that's just me. ::shrug:: Anyway, I don't know whether or not I'll have an Epilogue yet due to the fact that I'm writing this first. We'll just have to see where this takes us, won't we?

Now, in the words of Spider-man (cuz I love Tobey Maguire and he is definitely [in the words of Miaka from Fushigi Yuugi] a hunk of beefcake -^_^-BUT I HAVE DIBS ON HIM SO BACK OFF ::hisses::) ::cough cough:: As I was saying, in the words of Spider-man,

SHAZAM!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Mei Ling had been about five years old, she was found hiding underneath her bed, terrified and shaking like a bowl of Jello in an earthquake. After being dragged out multiple times–each time, she managed to thrash free and scramble back underneath the bed–her mother came to the conclusion that, for once, it would be better to talk to her before attempting to haul her out once more. Upon questioning, it was discovered that one of her older cousins had told her a story about the Rampaging Half-Demon People-Eating Kangaroo of Doom, and whispered to her in the hushed, urgent tone of one who is sharing a secret not to be disclosed on pain of disembowelment, that the Rampaging Half-Demon People-Eating Kangaroo of Doom's favorite snack was short, red-eyed, blue-haired girls who were four years, ten months, and thirteen days old. Also, he had added, the Kangaroo had been spotted in the bay of Hong Kong just that afternoon, heading straight for the Clan Mansion. The only way to escape it was to hide under a bed for the next three years, tell no oneand to give her cousin the bag of sweets she'd just bought. Convinced the Kangaroo would devour her anyway, and also not having the slightest notion what a kangaroo was, she'd sheltered below her bed until found, which was approximately an hour and a half later. She would often reflect upon those ninety minutes, knowing that they were the most terrifying ninety minutes in her life. Her mental image of the Rampaging Half-Demon People-Eating Kangaroo of Doom was one of such horror that she felt she would never see anything quite as frightening in her lifetime. In fact, she also firmly believed she would never have to face something as terrifying as the Rampaging Half-Demon People-Eating Kangaroo of Doom.

Until then.

Her hand paused and she debated whether this was still necessary. After all, Sakura _was_ her friend, and she was in painBut Mei Ling also didn't have the desire to end up imprisoned within a pressure-cooker for the next few millennia, and Sakura was also mad enough to do that. 

Stupid. That was what her formerly worshipped cousin was: stupid. Apparently, he hadn't the guts to tell her about Sun Fua when he had the chance, and now look at the fine mess he'd caused. Stupid, stupid, stupid. 

And poor Sakura: she obviously cared for him, and then her STUPID cousin had to go and wait until that harpy had draped herself all over him to tell her he was engaged. They were downright lucky Sakura hadn't had a cardiac arrest or an ulcer or a hernia or something. 

Bracing herself, Mei Ling did what was probably the bravest thing she'd done yet. She knocked on the door.

There was a pause, and then it was opened by her older brother, wearing a surly frown. Seeing her, his eyes narrowed. "What do you want?"

"To talk to Sakura." She barely kept the impatience out of her voice. "Now."

"She's not feeling very good." He started to shut the door, and she stopped him. "Please–I know what this is about."

"Let her in, Touya." The dead-sounding voice echoed from above, and for a moment Mei Ling wondered if she'd heard the voice of God. A moment later, as Touya stepped aside reluctantly and she entered, slipping off her shoes, she realized it was Sakura. "She's upstairs?" she asked quietly; Touya only responded with a nod, stalking off. Padding up the neat wooden stairs, she thought to herself, _Is this what it's like to be Sakura, walking here?_

"What is it, Mei Ling?" That same tired voice now came from a door a little way down the hall, and she walked towards it. 

"I wantedto talk to you," Mei Ling replied cautiously, for once choosing her words with care and precision. 

"About what?" Coming to the door, she found a startling sight. Sakura sat at the window, her face turned towards the noontime sun. "Close the door, pleaseFunny, isn't it?"

"What?" Mei Ling wasn't sure what she had heard as she obediently closed the two of them off from the rest of the world.

"It's funny," Sakura repeated, something gone from her voice, though Mei Ling couldn't tell exactly what. "Four years ago, the last of your Clan left here, and even with all the memories I have from the Card-catching days there was no way I could prove it was real. I don't have a journal entry or a picture of you or Syaoran or the Hong Kong trip, and for all I know I could have made up both you. And now, everyone hereI could have made this all up, and by this time tomorrow, you'll all be gone. More figments of my imagination, it could be." [AN: ::Yoda impression:: The Dark Side, this is.]

"That's not true!" Mei Ling walked uneasily over to her, still not seeing Sakura's face. "Sakura–we're real! Knock it off! We need to talk!"

"I don't want to," she said dully. "You're part of my imagination now. You're not real. Syaoran's not real."

"Is this about my idiot cousin?" she demanded, furious. "Will you snap _out_ of it?"

There was a pause, and then Sakura really did snap out of it.

Mei Ling flew into the door, but was back on her feet in an instant. Sakura radiated a power so strong that even she could see it, and her eyes were strange. Trails of liquid light rolled down from them, trails that Mei Ling realized with shock were what would be tears, but they came from eyes that burnt with a flame far hotter than anything of the natural earth. _"You can't take him away,"_ she shrieked in a voice that shattered the mirror on the vanity table, the window, and something by her bedside. _"You will not take him away again!"_

It was the building pressure from the Final Rip. Mei Ling stared with horror at the she-demon her friend was becoming, trying frantically to think of some way to return Sakura to her normal form. The concentration of Demon power had warped her, twisted her somehow

__

Fire, whispered her mind. _Fire that purifies all evils, banishes all perversions of magic._

She'd always worn a charm on her wrist with a fire spell built in. It needed no magic to activate, only the word.

Ducking a blast of acidic green light, she hurled the charm at Sakura. It leapt to her throat, and just as she looked down, Mei Ling managed to gasp out the word.

Flames erupted around Sakura, and the inhuman thing that had held her in its grip shrieked, forming a sort of spirit thing before dissipating. 

"Demon Residue," she muttered, catching herself before she spat on the floor. 

"It was cold," came Sakura's normal voice. She stood there, dazed, her eyes still flashing pain and anger, but now less sharp than before. "It was cold, so cold, and then there was fire"

"Demon Residue," Mei Ling repeated. "Demon Magic remains behind no matter what, and unless it's cleaned up properly, it'll gather together and form that kind of little nasty that had you. It latches onto the nearest person with magic that's particularly susceptible."

"S-Susceptible?"

"Angry, hurt, or confused."

"But" she faltered. "Why would I be hurt or angry? I'm not hurt or" Her eyes widened, and her hands went up to cover her mouth. For a tense moment, nothing happened, and then she collapsed onto the bed, sobbing. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

__

How could he? 

That was the only thing I wanted to know. How could he just throw away a bond that took three years to forge, that was sealed in his blood lost in protecting me and my tears each time he did? It seemed a huge chasm yawned within me, threatening to drown me in its wretched black darkness–

Mei Ling was saying something, and I tried to listen. "The Elders demanded it, Sakura. He didn't want it."

"What?" I lifted my head to find her by my side, more distressed than I would have thought. 

"The Elders made him take a fiancée," she said urgently. "He was sixteen, with no sign of any interest in girls–" she snorted "–though after that whole Yukito thing, even I wasn't surebut they commanded him to choose a wife, and when he refused, they assigned that harridan and she's been following him ever since."

"Can't he–can't he _do_ anything about it?" I whispered.

She shook her head sadly. "As future leader of the Clan, there's not much he can do. He's still looking into it, and I think part of the initial agreement they forced him into was that he had to choose a bride within a year, but I forget whether that year's up yet or not. Until then, Sun Fua'swell, they prefer to think of her as a back-up, but I refer to it as Motivation.'"

That got a weepy laugh out of me. Maybe there was still hopebut why was he acting like the way he was? So cold and indifferent, never showing any sign of acknowledgement for my existence, never another word other than what was necessary

"Sakura, do you still love him?" Mei Ling asked gently.

I glanced up, startled and blushing. "I never told you that I loved him in the first place!"

"You think I didn't see it when I came back here? And now, you're the target of Demon Residue just because you heard he's engaged?" She rolled her eyes. "Come on, Sakura, I'm more observant than _that._ Give me some credit. Now answer the question."

Pausing, I said heavily, "Yes. I do. And that's the worst of it."

"I see," Mei Ling said cryptically, her tone unreadable. I glanced at her to see if I could pick out some kind of emotion from her face, but it too was completely blank. "Well, I have matters to attend to" Glancing at the window–or the shattered remains thereof–she remarked, "We've got one heck of a night in front of us. If it won't take too much out of you, I'd also recommend doing something about this room. It could use a dusting."

I smiled; somehow she always cheered me up. "Thank you, Mei Ling."

"You're welcome." She grinned at the dent in the door, then let herself out. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Syaoran Li stared at the rippling water, his mind clumsily turning cartwheels. All his nice little plans were worthless now; he just couldn't do it. He couldn't keep distancing himself from Sakura; right after he'd finally told her about his fiancée was the worst. Her voice had been so–so _strange,_ when he'd said quietly, "She's my fiancée," and her slow response had been, "Oh. Good Luck, both of you." And then she'd turned and walked quietly away, her head still head high, her pace steady, until she'd vanished out of sight. 

And that was what bothered him far more than anything else–how she'd taken the news as calmly as if they were discussing the weather. No happiness, no sorrow, just a light comment and she'd vanished. 

She'd changed, too, in the four years since he'd left. Honed, it seemed. Her mind was quick, her reactions quicker, and she'd somehow acquired the fighting skills of someone who'd trained a lifetime. How she'd managed to do it was beyond him, though he knew half the Clan was dying for the secret of her fighting skills. The other half was fighting for the secret of how to make her die, or at least, making sure she felt like they were. It took quite a grudge to be this angry with Sakura for so long, though it was only in the last few months of Eriol's game with them that he'd let himself get attached to her.

And now look what it got him–a headache and that feeling that he was a monster far worse than anything they were going to see in the oncoming night. 

__

Yeah, but seeing her again is worth it, part of his mind quipped. 

They both could die in the battle that was coming, speared by a horn, clawed or ripped to death, killed by the Demon Magic, consumed by calling on higher forces that were never meant for mortals, any number of horrible deaths. It wasn't his death that bothered him as much as hers; he wasn't worth as much as everybody made him out to be, just another Clan Mage, but she was _Sakura._ Her presence alone was enough of an impact on Earth that it was irreplaceable. She couldn't be lost, or only the gods knew what would happen.

His grip on the railing tightened, digging into the soft wood, but he hardly noticed. Why did it have to be _her,_ of all people? Why couldn't he keep himself from thinking of her? She was so much better off without him shadowing her presence, the weight dragging her down. If he kept himself from her, she'd be able to continue a relatively normal life after all this was over–as normal as you could get, living with Kero and her brother's best friend for guardians.

He still wished he could talk to her, tell her everything, hold her at least one more time before he and the rest of the Clan returned to Hong Kong and the jewel-encrusted deathtrap he lived in. 

He hated his life.

Though, upon reflection, he realized, that might not be an issue for much longer. Perhaps in the foray he would fall to a demon. Would it be a Greater Demon? What if they couldn't kill one in time to return it and the other demons to their dimension? What then?

Before he could delve deeper into that train of thought, a twinge alerted him to the presence of someone with magic nearby. Probably one of the Clan sorcerersthe last thing he wanted right now was another reminder of what a failure he was. 

Unfortunately, it was worse. 

Sakura was staring at the ground as she meandered along, but the moment she saw him, she started, then turned to return the way she'd came. 

It was another reminder of how things had changed between them. Four years ago, he would have blushed at the mere sight of her and she would have smiled brightly, running up to him with a cheerful greeting, like there was not a soul in the world who could do any wrong to her. Nowshe had darkened, almost. Her inner light hardly showed. Smiles didn't come as easily as they once had. 

Sakura paused, then, and turned to face him once more. Her eyes flashed like steel, a look in them that hadn't been there those few years ago. She'd gained an edge, he realized. A cold, hard face she could use to face difficult challenges. 

What made him uneasy was that she was using it on him. 

"We need to talk," she said lowly, her voice holding a note that also made him nervous as she walked towards him. Sakura alone made him nervous. When they'd been catching the Cards together, she had known enough to barely get by when it came to her magic. She'd been able to keep it under control and to call on it when she needed to. She didn't really have the ability to cause serious damage.

But now, after he'd seen her use the most powerful and difficult spell a water mage could summon like it was a child's toy, he was nervous. Now that he knew Kaho and Eriol had taught her how to truly use her magic, he was nervous. Now that she could emanate the feeling that if she cared to, she could turn him into a tennis ball and toss it to some dog, he was nervous. 

And she was mad. Really, really mad. When Sakura was mad, she was the most dangerous person he knew.

And she was making him nervous. 

"O-Okay," he managed to get out, "we can talk."

This did not look good. 

She stared at him a long moment, her eyes glinting like cold, hard flint. Swallowing, he forced himself to ask, "What?"

"You tell me," she replied in that same, dangerously even tone. "You're the one who's been pretending like I don't exist. Unless, of course, it's convenient for you to interfere in my matters, particularly when I actually _don't_ need your help." When he failed to dredge up a response, she continued, her voice gaining anger. "Make up your _mind,_ Syaoran. You're not helping me by nearly killing yourself because you have to go off and play the hero and try to save me when I never even showed a sign of needing your help. You're not helping me by butting in when _I_ need the opportunity to show your family I'm not going to be pushed around. So far, the only thing your Clan sees in me is someone who hides in the shadow of their future leader and relies on _him_ to keep me from getting killed, and in case you didn't notice, that _also_ doesn't help any!"

"What am I supposed to do?" he returned, "sit there and watch them shove you around?"

"I don't know who gave you the idea that I can't take care of myself, but I've got a few things to say to them and none of them are Gee, thanks'!" she retorted. Seeing his half-refuting look, she snapped, "Let me tell you something, Syaoran. When you left, a bunch of the guys who knew they couldn't get away with messing with my while you were here decided to try it now. I tried everything I could to make it to the airport before you left, but I didn't make it. Never mind the fact that you hadn't told _anyone_ you were leaving. Never mind the fact that it was only sheer luck that I found out when I did. I did my damn best to get to the airport, and it was only because I didn't have a scrap of magic left that I didn't fly after your plane. For _four years_ I haven't looked at another guy, and because I haven't, every jackass in school has assumed I'm available or just playing hard to get. I've been fighting off the same people, day after day, for four years, thinking maybe someday you'll come back and we can sort this all out. In fact, I went to look for you. I used Fly and went to Hong Kong, but you weren't there and by then I was so close to fainting that Touya had to come down and get me. I've been snuck up on and tricked and attacked more times than you can comprehend. Because I wanted to wait for _you,_ I put myself through that, when I could have at least pretended to like another guy just so it would _stop,_ but I kept my faith in you and put up with the catcalls, the whistles, the guys trying to get me in every dark corner and alley you could think of. Do you honestly think that was _easy_ for me? I haven't gone to school without wearing shorts under my skirt so I can fight properly for more than three years now, even in the middle of summer. I've kept back ten guys at once before without using magic. I've trained every day since you left to keep those guys back while I waited for you. Don't tell me you think that's been easy." Narrowing her eyes, she added venomously, "And _don't_ tell me I can't take care of myself."

He couldn't make himself speak; the enormous weight of guilt started settling upon his shoulders like a gargantuan bird of prey. How could he have been so gods-cursed _stupid?_ Sakura had gone through what sounded like four years of utter hell for him, and he'd been treating her with all the consideration he'd take with a dirt clod. Agreeing to move to another place, forcing himself to try to forget her, focusing solely on his training and duties, and he'd cut away the most precious thing in his life. 

And for all he knew, he could have just lost her forever. The look in her eyes as she glared furiously into his seemed to point in just that direction

After a moment of stretched silence in which she waited for his response and he couldn't think of one, she stormed off. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

__

Thwack!

There was a ripping sound, and the punching bag split, dumping sand onto the ground. Gesturing, I forced it back into the bag and waited for the thread to finish sealing the bag shut again. Practicing would only help at the moment; the Rip wouldn't be until sundown, and as there was a good forty-five minutes or so left until sunset, I needed to be warmed up. Training not only warmed up my muscles but my magic skills, because I constantly needed to repair the bag and if I didn't use them for a while they stiffened. 

Besides, beating the crap out of the bag and pretending it was Syaoran also helped. Though it didn't help my angry mood to think of those big, warm brown eyes, or

__

Or how he doesn't think you can handle yourself, my mind interjected. That set off another round of furious punches and kicks, and with a groan, the bag split again. 

I pushed sweaty hair out of my eyes, decided I'd had enough physical practice, and headed over to the mirror for the rest of my magic practice. While my hair was short, it wasn't short enough to stay out of my face, and I couldn't be blinded by it in the middle of the battle. Besides, I'd kept it short for Syaoran, and that wasn't going to help me anymore. 

Drawing out a slender thread of magic, I let my hair down and infused it with magic. The bangs remained the same, but the rest inched longer and longer until there was enough to put into a reasonable ponytail. Maybe I'd cut it afterwards, but I didn't know. It was kinda pretty at this length. 

I brushed it into a ponytail, enjoying the feel of the wind on the back of my neck, and walked over to the window, dropping the blinds. Moving slowly as to keep my muscles from tensing but not enough to overwork them, I changed into a black tank top and dark jeans. The scent of wood and old leather greeted me when I opened a cabinet in one corner; it contained my magical supplies. 

I pushed aside the herbs and crystals, going to what was hidden beneath the standard equipment. Memory returned in a rush.

__

"Remember," Eriol said, handing me the chest, "this is only for battle. You will be severely punished if war magic is used on civilians or anyone not involved in the fight–the most common punishment is death."

Kaho paused, then handed me a sheathed dagger. "This is the WhiteBlade. It will cut through anything, and under the full moon, it has great power as a channel for magic or in the use of the magic it has. Don't use it unless you really have to, because itbacklashes."

"Backlashes?" I asked, confused.

She shook her head. "That's all I can tell you–it's what was told to me. This knife has been in my family longer than the Moon Bell."

They exchanged glances, and then Eriol added, "We hope you will never have to use these, Sakura."

Unfortunately, a few months after they'd left, a monster had been sent ahead of a sorcerer who wanted my Cards, and I'd had to open the chest for the first time. Sliding the key into the iron lock, I did so again.

Within were weapons and bottles of all shapes and sizes. On the very top was a leather belt with a dull silver buckle, worn with time but still stronger than steel thanks to the spells on it. The bottles all contained something to be released in a battle, be it poisonous smoke, a war-beast that would disappear only when defeated or its opponent was dead, a spell for explosion, or another little delight. All in all, there were about thirty of them; they would be stored in a rack that slid into a wide pouch on the side of the belt. 

A variety of weapons lied beneath. There was a small axe-hammer, with one blunt but pointed end, the other sharp as a needle and covered in a slip of leather. It slid into another loop in the belt, near the bottles, where it would hang until I needed it. After the axe-hammer came a brace of throwing knives, then what looked like a miniature spear but was meant to be thrown, the blade long and sharp. The WhiteBlade was hung near throwing spear, its sheath glinting old silver. A coil of chain looped around the belt, with a catch on the end that would release the razor-sharp blades hidden in each link. Two dirks of different lengths were thrust beside the chain, and then came the last weapon for the belt. 

I carefully lifted out the sword. The blade was a crystal even harder than diamond, coated in steel, with a plain hilt of wire-wrapped leather made only slightly remarkable by what looked like an emerald in the hilt. I knew better. 

Sliding Yelavarel out of its green-and-silver enameled sheath, I focused my power on the green stone, and obediently silver-green flames burst from the blade. I smiled, then dropped the pressure, waited for the flames to die, and returned the sword to its scabbard, then clipped it into place on the belt. Next to it I hung a crossbow and a pouch full of steel-tipped bolts.

The only thing that remained in the chest was a quiver full of arrows, the fletching strange feathers that were a bright green. The arrows conducted magic well and had a natural pull towards the target, making it easier on anyone who wasn't a skilled archer. This I slid over my head, knowing that the bow itself was in a pocket dimension, spelled to come when the wearer of the quiver called and to return to the pocket dimension when dropped or commanded to. The belt was buckled on, resting easily around my waist and leaving plenty of freedom to move. 

I realized I'd forgotten my Sphere and picked it up off the desk. It was a crystal globe, about five inches in diameter and perfectly clear but for a few sparkles of magic within. It could cast a light brighter than the sun when called on, among other things. Snapping my fingers, I transferred it to its gold wire carrying net and hooked that onto my belt. 

The sun was perilously close to setting, and I swallowed, trying to still the butterflies jolting my stomach. Squaring my shoulders, I glanced in the mirror, then grinned. The girl staring back at me did not look like someone to be trifled with. My reflection bristled with weapons and metal, and even more frightening were the pouches that hid their contents; you couldn't tell what was in there. In one I had enough of an explosive powder to level Tokyo, though I'd spelled it to not work unless I was using it. Another bag was full of spiked balls the size of a golf ball. They would explode at my command and in the meantime cause enough damage that the spikes were worth something. Another held a spell-net that immediately put its captive into a trance; inside another was a Screech, a malevolent spirit captive in a sphere that broke when it hit my target and filled their ears with a horrible shriek.

__

Can't take care of myself, indeed.

I pushed the door open and slowly walked downstairs, steel-toed boots in hand. Touya met me at the stairs, his eyes worried. 

"Don't get yourself killed," he muttered. "Or if you do, see if you can bump off that brat first."

I knew that was as much of a farewell as I was going to get, so I chose not to remark upon his closing comment. Besides, he wasn't too high on my list of most-liked people at the moment. "I'll be careful," I promised. 

Suddenly, I was wrapped in a hug with no regard to the fact that I was carrying enough weaponry, explosives, and other bundles of fun to essentially blow up the world. "You're the last girl me and Dad have got," he growled. "I mean it. Don't do anything stupid."

"Don't worry." I was surprised at the tears unexpectedly springing into my eyes. "I've got the Clan with me."

"That's what I'm worried about." He released me, then sighed. "Get outta here. You've got to go save the world again." Frowning, he added, "And what's with the queen-of-darkness getup? Couldn't you at least wear a pink T-shirt or something?"

"The less bright the color, the less the nasties can see me." I shrugged. "At least, that's the theory."

"Sakura," Kero called from the doorway. He and Yue were waiting for me. 

"Bye." I turned, not sure if I could hold back tears any longer, and ran to the foyer, yanking on my boots. 

[AN: Yep, there's definitely going to be an Epilogue.]

We stepped out into the quickly dwindling sunlight, and then Kero rumbled, "Get on. We need to show that Clan just what it means by making an entrance.'" 

Surprised, I climbed on, something I hadn't done in years. He took off, and the ground immediately dropped away as we shot into the sky, Yue flying silently beside us. 

Banking, Kero circled the park once, then landed with a thud as people scattered away, then glared balefully at us. Kero liked making the Clan nervous; he was too much like Suppi for them to not think of the incident when Eriol had arrived and so he enjoyed leisurely strolling through the crowds, licking his jaws and grinning at them. 

Now he turned pleading golden eyes to me, and I sighed, then leaned down and whispered, "Fine. But knock it off as soon as the Final Rip opens."

He lashed his tale, hiding glee, and meandered off while Yue sent an icy blue-silver glare towards the Clan members whispering and glancing towards him. Seeing the cold glare, they backed up a few feet, swallowing, then not-so-casually dissipated. 

"If you want to go have some fun with them too, I won't stop you," I muttered to him.

"I believe I will go familiarize myself with the grounds," he said tonelessly, walking away. People parted hastily in front of him, shrinking from the glare of the blue-and-white guardian.

"Not bad, Sakura."

I whirled to find Eriol smirking his little smirk. "What?"

"Not bad." He gestured towards the crowd and added to Spinel and Ruby Moon, "Go on, have some fun. It's good for them." Smiling as they bounded away, Ruby Moon cackling her joy, he returned his gaze to me. "Full battle regalia, I see. It's soSpartan."

"I believe Tomoyo's rubbed off on you," I returned in mock surprise. "You're getting an eye for fashion. And I see you're also inwhat was it? Full battle regalia?"

"So it was." He smiled benignly and turned his face to the sky. He wasn't wearing the hat, but he had donned the robes of Clow Read, drawing unnerved looks from the Clan members nearby. He'd grown into them more, making it look less like a boy playing dress-up and more like the uber-powerful sorcerer he was. "The Final Rip will come soon."

"It should be in a few minutes." The sun was barely above the horizon, its edge almost touching. I released the staff, my nerves starting to rise.

"You should go talk to my little descendant." His eyes never left the sky. "Patch things up before it's too late. Not everyone will make it out of this battle."

It wasn't until I saw he was dead serious for once that I took his words to heart and scanned the crowd for Syaoran. I really couldn't stay mad at him for long, and now it did seem more urgent than ever. 

"Sakura."

My attention returned to Eriol once more. "Yes?"

"You know what might have to happen."

How did he know? No matter; he'd want a reply. "I do."

He said no more, and I went back to searching for Syaoran. There he was, by the trees, his back to me. I walked over, my footsteps near silent and undetectable amid the nervous conversations all over the park. Coming to stand five feet behind him, I stared at the back of his head, knowing he'd turn around soon enough. After all, he was adept enough at glaring at people

He turned around, started, and ran a hand through his hair, making it wilder than ever. "Sakura–" He faltered, then started again. "Sakura, I'mI'm sorry. I can't do much else, other than say I'm sorry, and"

"Just tell me one thing," I managed to get out, my throat threatening to choke up. "Dodo you really" _Come on, Sakura, knock it off and spit it out!_ "Do you really want to marry Sun Fua?"

Instantly, an illusion curtain snapped around the tree, making it look like no one was there. He had crossed the distance between us in one giant step and his arms were starting to encircle me–

When burning magic electrified my senses, and we both tensed, him letting me go. Shouts from beyond the shield alerted me to the only inevitable. It was starting.

"We have to go out there," I sighed, thinking that the fates had the worst possible sense of timing. 

"I know," he said heavily. "I know." The illusion vanished, and I started forward, but he grabbed my wrist. "Sakura–be careful."

"Of course I will." I gave him a tight smile. "You'd better not get yourself killed either, or I'll kill you myself."

Then I set off, heading towards the acidic sense of magic overhead. I missed his brief saddened look as I did, but the fate of the world was at hand, and I was no longer a hormonal teenager. I was Sakura Kinomoto, Warrior, and there was more than my emotions at risk.

A burning line slowly traced down in the middle of the air, stretching far longer than any of the Rips before had. A hundred feet in the air–then two hundred–then farther, and farther.

And then something came through it. 

Words did not even begin to describe it, but a generalization is that it had horrible yellow scales, gleaming eyes that were putrid green, and it slightly resembled a horrible cross between a ram, a snake, and a mole. Oh yes, and that it was taller than two football fields end-to-end.

"Fly!" I drew Yelavarel, the blade shining, and soared towards it. It turned burning eyes to me and emitted a wailing screech that tore at my ears, but I used the Silence and all fell eerily quiet. I could feel the sword biting into its flesh and saw its mouth open in a soundless scream, but heard nothing. A giant claw raced towards me and I ducked, only to be raked by the talons of another. Gritting my teeth, I healed the wound and went back for another pass, only to find the original cut I'd made gone.

In my surprise, I released the Silence, and suddenly the field was full of noise. On the ground, dozens of lesser demons were swarming over everything, and the sorcerers who weren't busy dealing with the mole-creature were starting to be pushed back by the demon's force. 

"Windy, bind this!" The spirit wrapped around the thing and it was immobilized for a moment, allowing me enough time to draw a bottle and hurl it at its eye. The glass shattered, which was enough to temporarily blind it, but then white powder burst out in a cloud around its massive head. Rivulets of black blood ran down the thing's muzzle, its eyes burned out of its sockets as I used Silence again to muffle its ear-rending cries.

Fire blasted at it, and it thrashed as it seared the empty eye sockets. I realized that was what would keep it from healing, like Hercules had done with the Hydra, and called the inner flames from Yelavarel. 

It shuddered when I struck its forearm, but the thing was too great for my blade to sever in one blow. Worse, the lesser demons kept coming, and something even worse was shifting behind the glowing Rip.

Removing Silence, I yelled, "I'm going to relieve the ground forces!" and dropped down to the ground. Fumbling for one of the bags at my hip, I came up with a fistful of the spiked balls and hurled them at a wave of oncoming demons, then screamed the command rune. The resulting line of explosions turned heads, but I couldn't be distracted. I unhooked the chain from my belt and lashed it around one demon, my fingers struggling for the catch and finding it. The concealed blades shot out, impaling the monstrosity a thousand times over, and it dissolved into dust. I released the bottled war-beast against another demon, then drew both of my dirks and wielded one in each hand. Two demons came for me; I jumped over them, letting them collide, and plunged the dirks into their backs. My throwing knives were spent on four more demons, and I started running out of bottles. 

A beast dragged my war hammer down with it, and I seized the next weapon on my belt. It was a dagger–no, it was the WhiteBlade. Regardless, I slashed at a demon, severing its muscular arm. 

And then a sharp pain caught my own arm. A line of blood appeared around it, though nothing had touched me. Ignoring it, I plunged the blade into the things heart–and then doubled over, racked with burning pain in my chest.

__

"Itbacklashes."

It's making me suffer when I hurt something else–it turns the wound on me too–

Well, whoop-dee-freaking-doo! I can't use it, then!

Gritting my teeth, I sheathed it, becoming aware of the many small injuries I was starting to accumulate as I strung my bow and fired off arrow after arrow, saturating them with explosive magic. On my right, a man was beheaded with a terrible scream. One of the female warriors who had been actually halfway decent to me was on the ground, her left arm covered in blood. The moans of the wounded now filled the air as much as the clash and fierce cries of battle. People were dying almost as much as the demons, and there were more demons coming yet. 

Someone shrieked, engulfed in flames. The crack of breaking bones rang through the air, and someone's cries were cut short. 

__

We're going to lose, I thought numbly. _We're going to lose. Every dead demon dissolves, and we need a blood sacrifice to close the Rip–_

And then something immense moved from within the Rip. It stretched and fluctuated again, and then something emerged: a demon even bigger than the mole-snake. The second of the Greater Demons.

The mole-snake howled victoriously, Windy's pale form drifting brokenly towards the gorund.

We had no chance.

I stared, appalled, then hurled all my magic at the two Greater Demons. It flew in a green-white stream, shooting towards them like an extended comet.

The new one turned and flicked it away like a dust speck. Dizzy from the loss of power, I stumbled, aghast. This couldn't be happening. I was the most powerful sorceress they knew of, and I couldn't fight it.

My weapons were gone. My magic was spent. And while I wasn't physically tired yet, I doubted kicking its toe would do much good.

Those who could still fight were quiet, knowing this was hopeless. The only sounds came from the dying.

I had only one thing left that I could do. "Fly," I whispered, waiting for the wings to appear, then lifting off, leaving my wand on the ground. My belt had been lost, my arrows all gone; all that was left was the WhiteBlade, which I'd irately shoved into my pocket when it worked against me. 

As the demons kept fighting, screams poured forth once more, and I didn't think anyone saw me as I neared the fiery wide line of the Rip. It was at least thirty feet wide, and within I could see thousands upon thousands of demon watching me with wary eyes, along with hundreds of Greater Demons. The hate rolled off them in waves; the bloodlust was so great it choked the air, my every instinct screaming and my knees struggling not to shake. 

If it needed blood sacrifice, blood sacrifice was what it was going to get. I pulled out the WhiteBlade, then closed my eyes and drove it into my heart. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mei Ling punched a demon, then seized its skull in both hands and twisted, hearing the neck snap and feeling it in her bones. It was disgusting work and it sickened her, but she had to do it. She was one of the greatly-reduced people left standing, and she couldn't stop fighting, not until one of the Greater Demons was slain and used as the blood sacrifice. 

Then a white explosion made everyone throw their hands over their eyes, and the demons started making a huge racket. Those who could see found their enemies being pulled back towards the Rip. The Greater Demons fell back, squealing, then vanished within the void; within thirty seconds, there was no sign of the demons left, the trees bending in a wind unfelt by the humans. With a final flare, the Rip vanished, but the spherical white glow hung in the air for a moment. Then it too winked out, and in the sudden darkness few noted the small silhouette plunging to the earth. 

After a moment, murmurs started growing in one area, and those who could walk dragged themselves over. Mei Ling followed, wondering what the big deal was.

And where was Sakura?

"Move it," she growled, and people got out of her way, muted. When she saw the cause for the gathering, she wished they hadn't.

Sakura lay on the ground, her already black shirt darkened in blood. In the center of the reddish halo, the hilt of a blade protruded from her chest, a little to the love; her hands still loosely grasped it. White feathers surrounded her in a pattern as if she'd fallen and then the bones had gone, leaving only their pinions behind. 

The future leader of the Clan pushed his way through the crowd, then found Sakura there. No one had gotten within fifteen feet of her; there was only a circle. He stopped, his face white, then slowly walked forward, fell to his knees, and didn't move, his head bowed in grief. Yelan came to the front and halted, her hands flying up to cover her mouth in a rare display of emotion. 

Syaoran Li stood, head still down. Then he looked up and turned to face the crowd. "I have made my decision," he said, his low voice carrying easily through the hushed quiet. "This is my bride."

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**__**

Well, that just makes you wonder how the kids are gonna turn out, doesn't it? Dead mothers sure seem to run in Sakura's family, that's for sure

Okay, okay, don't kill me! I told you already, there's going to be an epilogue! Don't hurt me or I won't be able to update!


	6. A Hero's DeathFor All of Thirty Seconds

Falling Apart

Chapter Six: A Hero's Death…For All of Thirty Seconds

**__**

Well, it seemed that almost all of you liked that last chapter. However, there was one person that didn't, and now I'm curious. If you want to read the review for yourself, it's on the page, but there are a few things I want to point out and to ask.

So to my nameless reviewer:

First of all, this story is based on the plot of CardCaptor Sakura. There never was a reference made to the difference between a mage and a "seige." I follow the definitions in the dictionary with the sole exceptions of foreign words and words that I make up on my own, and the rules I go by when writing a story are the ones laid out in the original series. As there was never pointed out a distinction between a "seige" (which isn't a real word—is this supposed to be "sage" or "siege"? "Sage" makes more sense, but "siege" is also an obscure term for a throne-like chair as well as an attack that involves surrounding a fort or well-defended position and starving them into submission) and a mage. The definition of mage in my dictionary is simple "One who uses magic; a magician." So I didn't really follow your comments on the problem with Sakura being termed or insinuated as being a mage. Were they a reference to another series? If so, which series? I assure you, this was not meant to be a crossover in any way and if it sounds similar, it is entirely coincidence, as I have never heard of the series.

Second, Sakura never was defeated by the demons. She sacrificed herself in order to close the Final Rip, and that wasn't the end of the story. I'm sorry if you thought so, but I mentioned multiple times that there will be an epilogue. That's what this chapter is doing here. 

So if you really do want to contact me about this story, please send me an e-mail. The address is right on my bio page, easy enough, as is my AIM screen name, so I'll be on hopefully tomorrow night and I will talk with anyone who wants to talk then.   
For everyone else who reviewed, thank you so much, and even if you didn't, thanks for reading this!

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"This is my bride."

"You _ASSHOLE!"_

Bewildered, everyone stared at the formerly dead Card Mistress, who was sitting up, the dagger now at her side, blade still lined in blood and the dark patch still on her shirt. "Who asked _me_ if I wanted to marry you?! Hate to break it to you, but you can't just walk up to someone and say 'Marry me' and expect them to be all sunshine-and-daisies about it! Honestly!"

Syaoran blinked once, then twice, yet again with no response coming to mind. This seemed to be happening a lot.

"Ow…" She put her hand to her chest, flinching, then stopped. "Um...wait…Aren't I supposed to be, um, dead? Or something like that?" 

"Yeah, or something like that," Mei Ling said faintly.

Eriol pushed his way forward, nodded nonchalantly to Sakura like she dropped dead every day and was resurrected just as often, and picked up the knife. "Oh. Well, that explains it." He cleaned it on the grass and handed it back to her. "If I had known you'd used the WhiteBlade I could've told them all not to panic."

"And what does _that_ stupid thing have anything to do with it?" she demanded. "I couldn't use it without getting hurt myself!" 

"Exactly." He had that smug little smile, the one that said 'I knew what was going on all along but decided not to tell you.' "The initial spell was designed to make the user think twice about killing or war. Surely you noticed the spell on it when you tried to kill a demon."

"Yeah, no shit," she muttered sullenly, wincing at a ring of blood around her upper arm. She sat up all the way, then bit back a sharp cry, bracing her arm. "I think I broke this. Must've been the fall. Son of a bitch."

He ignored her language and continued. "In the case of the user wounding or killing his or herself, by all logic the damage would be paid in the blood of the enemy, but there would be no way to distinguish between their enemy and any innocent bystanders, so instead a self-inflicted wound would be backlashed in the manner of being healed."

"I'll pretend that makes sense." Sakura stared at the silver dagger. "Damn. Wait—wait—Dammit, Eriol, if you'd told me that sooner I could've ended this whole damn thing before five minutes were up!" 

Eriol suddenly became enthralled with cleaning his glasses and was saved from having to reply by Sakura passing out. "Oh, would you look at that."

Mei Ling tightened her fists, willing herself not to strangle the indigo-headed young man, and gave Syaoran a pointed look. "Hey Syaoran, are you gonna pick her up or not?"

"Me?" Even at seventeen, he still retained the remarkable ability to turn redder than a tomato.

"No, actually, I was referring to the other Syaoran who happens to be standing right next to you," she said sarcastically. "In fact, why don't we all just head home and leave her in the middle of a field covered in dead or dying people and their body parts?"

"Sounds like a plan to me," Eriol said under his breath.

Scowling at both of them, he picked her up and started walking. The crowd parted, whispers sweeping through like rushes in the wind, and people slowly began trailing after the odd little procession.

A tall, broad-shouldered figure appeared at the edge of the park, shortly followed by a substantially shorter, raven-haired one. 

"Here we go," Mei Ling muttered.

"WHAT THE _HELL_ DID YOU _DO_ TO HER?!?!?!" Touya bellowed, furious.

Eriol adjusted the illusion spell to let him see the bodies and wounded being tended, but didn't comment.

"Is she dead?" Tomoyo asked tonelessly, eyes on the patch of still-wet blood on her shirt.

"She was," Mei Ling said shortly.

"For about a minute," added Eriol.

"Did…did she stop breathing, then?" She paled visibly.

"No, actually she decided to perform open-heart surgery on herself using a dagger she didn't know would bring her back to life. She'll be okay, but she'll need some rest." Eriol gave Touya an innocent smile. "She nearly worked herself to death."

Syaoran barely registered the others talking; his mind was still recovering from what had happened. That…that loss he'd felt, when he'd seen Sakura's still form lying on the ground, white as ice and just as cold. She really was the only one he could ever feel for like that, and nothing could change the way it was. If she had been taken from him…

She'd said she'd been waiting for him to come back. If that was true, why had she reacted like she did?

And she'd _heard_ that…his face turned a brilliant red. 

Eriol leaned into his line of sight, face quizzical. "Syaoran, if you're having thoughts that are making you blush, perhaps _Touya_ should hold Sakura."

Had his arms not been full of said young woman, he would have hauled off and beaten the crap out of him. As it was, he settled for the standard glare, wishing fruitlessly for what had to be the six hundredth time for a bolt of lightning to come down and smite Eriol where he stood.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

__

Owww….

Have I got a hangover? No, that can't be right…I haven't gotten a hangover since the punch-bowl drama, and I still haven't forgiven Yamazaki for that…

So what the hell is up with MY HEAD FEELING LIKE SOMEONE'S SHOVING A STOPSIGN IN MY EYE?!

"I hate my life," she muttered into the pillow. 

"And I'm sure it hates you," a detached voice said placidly from above her: Eriol.

"I _really_ hate my life." She rolled over, forced her eyes open, and shut them swiftly again. "It's too bright. Turn the sun off. Wait…you've done it before…never mind."

"Well, she's alive enough to be making cracks," Tomoyo said on her right. "Definitely an improvement."

"Lucky me." Scowling, she turned over and buried her face in the pillow again. 

Something brushed the back of her head, and the headache vanished. "Now you don't have an excuse. Get up, Sakura."

"I hate you too."

"You seem to have developed an antisocial streak, Sakura," he observed sagely.

She responded to this with an obscene gesture she'd picked up from Touya and a not-very-nice suggestion.

"I don't believe that's physically possible," Tomoyo said thoughtfully.

"Care to test it out?" was his response.

"Not in my room," she growled.

"Then we'd better not leave you and Syaoran alone in here," he said blandly.

"GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" Sakura yelled, completely losing it. "NOW!"

"But it's so much more entertain—"

"GOD DAMMIT ERIOL, I WILL RIP OUT YOUR INTESTINES, FEED HALF OF THEM TO YOU UNTIL YOU CHOKE, AND THEN STRANGLE YOU WITH WHAT'S LEFT AND HANG YOU OFF THE BALCONY AS A WARNING TO EVERYONE _ELSE_ WHO DIDN'T LISTEN TO ME!"

"That probably won't go over too well with the neighbors," he said after a moment. "And it's going to keep the trick-or-treaters away from your house for a while. But that does mean you get to keep all the chocolate."

Her face was buried in the pillow, but from the yelps of pain and Tomoyo's anxious squeals, she gathered Syaoran, at least, had listened to her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She didn't wake up again for another three days, and she didn't get out of bed unassisted for a week. Death did that to a person.

It did, however, give her a lot of time to think, particularly because she'd requested some solitude. Once they were sure that she was going to wake up again, her friends complied. She needed desperately to think, though—over many things. After school, where would she go? Which college? What job would she have? Would she share an apartment with someone? 

What was she going to do with her life? 

After making the decision to die for the sake of the world, it left her with the question of whether she'd do it again. Her life had impacted some people, sure, but not to the extent that she wished it would. The whole world was out there, just waiting for her, and more than anything she wanted to have the ability the change someone's life for the better. She didn't know what career she'd take, what she'd do for a living. There was so much out there for her…

But how much of it lay with Syaoran?

With so much free time on her hands, she was able to sit in her bed and wonder the hours away…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Sakura."

She glanced up, startled from her thought. "Hmm?"

"The Clan is leaving today," Tomoyo said, tone unreadable. Sakura had been walking around again since the day before, and she'd come to visit the Kinomoto household that morning, only to find Sakura in one of her silent-and-thoughtful moods. She also had a good notion of just what her best friend was being thoughtful about—or, more accurately, _whom_—but if she wasn't going to say, Tomoyo wasn't going to ask. Drop hints here and there, yes, but not ask. "Right at sunset. Yelan wanted to make sure you would be alright." After a moment, she added, "Mei Ling said she wasn't the only one who wanted to make sure."

"Right, because we all know how much the Clan cares about me." She stared out of the large window by the kitchen table, face pensive, yet guarded. "Maybe if I'm lucky they'll send me a Christmas card with a couple thousand yen in it."

"That's not what I mean. _And_, Miss Snippy, Eriol says that they've got a lot more respect for you now."

"Whoopee, maybe I should try carving a face in my chest next time, swallow a candle, and sit outside on the porch for Halloween. That might upgrade me to getting a Christmas ham. Figgy pudding, if I'm lucky. Or a fruit basket."

"You're making a lot references to holidays," Tomoyo observed evenly. "But seriously, whatever issues you have right now with certain members of the Clan, you may want to go talk to that certain member of the Clan before that certain member of the Clan ends up three thousand miles away and wearing the 'Where are they going, I'm their Leader!' hat."

"Subtlety really isn't your strong suit, is it?" Sakura wondered out loud.

"Enough. Skedaddle, you've got to go sink your hooks in him before that Clan drags him off." 

"I haven't brushed my hair."

"Yes you have. And you've brushed your teeth. _And_ there is nothing wrong with your clothes. At the very least, go for a walk, get some sunshine. You'll turn so pale you'll blind people otherwise."

"Har, har." Nevertheless, she reluctantly got out of her chair and meandered over to the foyer. "What if—"

"He won't. They won't. You won't. It won't. Whatever you were about to 'what-if' about, it won't happen. Now shoo!"

Sakura left the house, still deep in thought, and automatically headed to the park. [AN: Surprise, surprise.] This time, it wasn't the bridge itself she headed to; it was the swing set. She settled herself with easy grace into one and absently pushed off a bit, moving herself forward, then waiting for the retreat backward. It was like that, her life: one swing forward, another back, always this unending uncertainty about where she was going to end up. Sometimes it was enthralling, at others just unendingly cyclic, but she was ready for it to stop. There was more out there than her strange and sometimes painful past. There was more than just the title "Card Mistress." There was more than sitting around and waiting for things to happen. She'd always been trapped under the title, the name, this identity that everyone now held standards for and were bewildered when she crossed them. It was the journey that she needed, the journey to find her own identity—who she really was in this crazy world. It hadn't started yet, but it was so very near she could feel it. The question was whether she'd be able to make it alone. 

"I thought you might be here." She didn't even turn her head; the words had just come out of her mouth like wine from a bottle.

"Mother doesn't want me to leave," said a tenor voice from behind her. She kept swinging gently, still thinking. "What do you want?" he asked finally.

What all did she want? Freedom to be who she wanted to be? Companionship? Another chance to do it all over again? What would she gain if she got it?

"Sakura?" A hand wrapped around the chain of the swing, and she looked up into the deep eyes, the swinging coming to a sudden, unexpected halt. "What do you want?"

The pause was thick and heavy—hung with a thousand responses, a thousand possible answers, an infinity of choices and futures that lay ahead. Finally, she replied, "A new beginning."

Another pregnant pause, and then he asked quietly, "With us?"

The light pink petals rained down like snow, some catching in her hair, some catching in his, spinning around them like a tornado, each carrying dreams and hopes and visions of what could come. "Yes." Her hand wrapped around his, still holding onto the swing chain, as she stood up, green eyes meeting amber. "With us."

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**__**

And that is that. What comes next, your mind gets to have a ball with. I, however, granted my schoolwork, possible play rehearsals, and even if not then the work parties, have to attend to my other commitments. Which do include my other ongoing stories, which I have every intention of finishing. Christmas Carol should get some work done on it, but only if I'm lucky.

Anyway, much love to everyone who reviewed this and even if you just read this.

AND BEFORE ANYONE ASKS—

I AM NOT DOING A SEQUEL!


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